Cincinnati's German Restaurants and Culture (Cleveland, Hamilton: hotel, home, neighborhoods)

[t45209]

Ok, since no one has yet convinced me to move to Westwood, here's another topic.

What the heck happened to Cincinnati's German heritage? We like to say we're a city built on German (and Irish) roots, but compared to other cities, our ethic identity is so watered down, it's a joke. Take Milwaukee, for example. There's a German city...they even have a sausage race at Brewer's games! Cincinnatian's wouldn't know a good German sausage if they were slapped in the face with it. Look at the Hungarian neighborhoods in Cleveland, Greek neighborhoods in Chicago, Polish and Italians in Buffalo, the Irish in Boston. Those are cities with rich ethnic traditions.

Let's take stock of our German restaurants. I'd have to pick Mecklenburg Gardens as the best of the lot...great atmosphere, best outdoor beer garden (if you can stand the thud of the car stereos rolling through the neighborhood)...we love the place, even if the food is a little inconsistent.

Then there's Wertheim's in Mainstrasse...eh, so so food, so so service.
Laslo's Iron Skillet and Lenhardt's are a little long in the tooth.
Kreimer's Bier Haus, although I can't say much about it since they closed the location in Columbia Tusculum.
Oleg's Tavern, a new place up in the 'burbs off of Fields Ertle.

That's it! And this town calls itself German! I can WALK, yes walk, to five Thai restaurants from my house!

Rest in peace Black Forest, Forest View Gardens, Bismarck, Old Vienna, Grammer's. Anybody remember any other old German restaurants?

Now, given the quality of food served by some of these places, I can understand why they are an endangered species, but contrary to popular belief there is such a thing as good German cooking. Why we don't have it here, I can't conceive.

Also, interested in what people think of Oktoberfest in Cincinnati and Covington. To me, pretty watered down and generic, with the Covington events being more of an Appalachian craft fair and flea market.

[Cincy-Rise]

I have a group of friends that moved here from Milwaukee and after attending Oktoberfest (one of the largest worldwide, outside of Munich) ... we approach a sausage stand and the first thing that comes out of their mouth was: "What's a Mett?" ... Are you kidding me??? I thought it was a given that anyone that lives within the Midwests' boundaries to know what a Mett is! There's a reason why Hofbräuhaus chose the Tri-State for its first location outside Germany. As far as Ancestry goes (and Oktoberfest) ... I completely agree. We live in America, home of the "mutts." Common sense here. There is no Oktoberfest that can compare to Germany's - let's not kid ourselves. America is a giant melting pot - a heterogeneous society.

[t45209]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

I have a group of friends that moved here from Milwaukee and after attending Oktoberfest (one of the largest worldwide, outside of Munich) ... we approach a sausage stand and the first thing that comes out of their mouth was: "What's a Mett?" ... Are you kidding me??? I thought it was a given that anyone that lives within the Midwests' boundaries to know what a Mett is!

That is very surprising for people from Milwaukee. The worst I have ever seen is Rochester, NY. I went to a grillout there last Memorial Day and the locals we're serving what they insisted were "white hot dogs." I never heard of such a thing, so I looked at what was on the grill and said, "well, where I come from, that's a bratwurst." They looked at me like I had two heads. They showed me the package, and sure enough, it said "white hot dogs!" I'm here to tell you, they were decent examples of German brats, on par with Queen City, but no one up there had a clue.

BTW, had a couple of Spaten drafts under the grape arbor at Mecklenburg Gardens earlier today and it was great!

[skippercollector]

What about Schutzenfest, Donaubschwaben Oktoberfest, Christkindlmarkt and Freudenfest?

[t45209]

Originally Posted by skippercollector

What about Schutzenfest, Donaubschwaben Oktoberfest, Christkindlmarkt and Freudenfest?

I was hoping someone would bring those up. Germania Society Oktoberfest and Christkindlmarkt are a great time. Indeed, there's a German subculture that exists and these cultural societies are outstanding. But, unless you are from Cincinnati, you'd almost never know they exist.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by Cincy-Rise

we approach a sausage stand and the first thing that comes out of their mouth was: "What's a Mett?"

I don't know too many places outside of parts of Iowa and Cincinnati who have heard of mettwurst -- they seem to be the U.S. hotbeds of mettwurst appreciation. And isn't it known by other names elsewhere?

The best mettwurst I've ever had was in a German restuarant in Ann Arbor, come to think of it.

[Cincy-Rise]

Originally Posted by Ohiogirl81

I don't know too many places outside of parts of Iowa and Cincinnati who have heard of mettwurst -- they seem to be the U.S. hotbeds of mettwurst appreciation. And isn't it known by other names elsewhere?

The best mettwurst I've ever had was in a German restuarant in Ann Arbor, come to think of it.

A Mett/Mettwurst definately is a German dish, which is why I brought up that specific occurance.

I know a friend of mine and I were talking about Metts and whether it was wrong or not to put cheddar in the middle of a Mett ... i.e. a native St. Louisan knew what a Mett was, not saying all do - nor am I saying all Milwaukeeans should know what a Mett is.

www.fleischwirtschaft.de - Fachbegriffe

Has anyone heard of the "Cincinnati Freie Presse?"

This was one of Cincinnati's major newspapers printed in all German and not too long ago, I was trying to find one to frame as a collection item.

Wikipedia has this to say about it ... RE: German-American papers:

The papers freported on major political and diplomatic events involving Germany, with pride but from the viewpoint of its American readers. For example, during the latter half of the 19th century at least 176 different German language publications began operations in the city of Cincinnati alone. Many of these publications folded within a year, while a select few such as the Cincinnati Freie Presse lasted nearly a century.

Pretty crazy when you think about it. I know many of Downtown's streets were actually in German and changed due to Anti-German Sentiment and remain the same changed name to this day. EX: (old) Humboldt St. (now) Taft Rd.


Like I said, the U.S. is pretty much an inbred society now, but if there's some type of German-American influence such as WWI/WWII, German Publications, Food, Frequent Language practices, Celebrations or Festivities, Groups/Clubs, etc... Cincinnati will almost be mentioned as a prime example almost every time.

[kjbrill]

Years ago the best local metts were made in Hamilton, and thus the term Hamilton Mett.

And then there is the bratwurst. I still prefer the gray variety, Queen City being one of the last local providers, grilled until they split, the casing turns dark brown, and with spicy brown mustard. To me the Johnsonville variety is not a brat, more like an Italian sweet sausage. But I am sure others would argue. The old fashioned, natural casing variety were the best. Maybe they can still be found at independent locations who still make their own sausage, but they are few and far between.

The German wurst, or sausage, came in over 1200 varieties.

On my few trips to Germany, all in the northern section, breakfast at the hotel often consisted for a hard roll, some cheese, and slices of sausage the closest to which locally was called thuringer.

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by t45209

I was hoping someone would bring those up. Germania Society Oktoberfest and Christkindlmarkt are a great time. Indeed, there's a German subculture that exists and these cultural societies are outstanding. But, unless you are from Cincinnati, you'd almost never know they exist.

I agree there are still vestiges of the past in the subculture. But without a doubt the great melting pot which is America has changed things a lot. As people move around the country, certain things are diminished.

I still make my own goetta and sauerbraten, not being satisfied with any of the commercial or restaurant varieties, but that is about the extent of my German heritage.

[Wilson513]

WWI and the Progressives are what happened. Don't you watch Glenn Beck? Seriously, the schools have scrubbed the distasteful truth about this, but if you get your history elsewhere, you will find that Democrat and Progressive politicians (read Obama style liberals from the early 1900's) whipped up anti-German sentiment so furious that streets were renamed, German was prohibited to be spoken in public or written in books, German businesses were closed, persons were removed from positions of authority, all across the country Germans fled and changed their names to protect against discrimination. Not much about this in the school text books.